Meet the expert: Professor Patrizia Ferretti

11 February 2025

Patrizia Ferretti is Professor of Regenerative Biology and programme lead for the Cell, Gene and Novel Therapies Master's degree at the UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health.

What is your role at UCL?

I'm deeply committed to education, leading our MSc in Cell, Gene and Novel Therapies as well as supervising PhD and MSc student projects. I've been involved in the Cell and Gene Therapy Master’s degree since its inception over 14 years ago, first as a Module Leader and then as a programme lead. I also lead the Disease Mechanisms and Repair of Neural and Skeletal Tissue research group. Our research focuses on stem cells for tissue repair, and modelling human diseases to develop novel therapeutic approaches for birth defects.

What attracted you to the area of Cell, Gene and Novel Therapies?

The immense potential these therapies have to provide long-term solutions, either by generating tissues in a dish that can be used for transplantation to repair tissue damage or correcting the genetic basis of birth defects. They also offer possibilities for tackling intractable cancers.

What do you most enjoy about your work and why?

The field is never boring and constantly evolving, which is very stimulating. I enjoy the interactions with students and their challenging questions keep me on my toes. It’s great when I am able to help students to understand which specific aspects of this field is most suitable for them to pursue.

What drew you to UCL?

UCL is one of the top 10 universities worldwide and has the largest concentration of clinicians and researchers in cell, gene, and novel therapies in Europe. Our Institute plays a significant role in this.

What is unique about the Cell, Gene and Novel Therapies MSc at UCL?

Being part of the UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health makes our Master’s degree unique. We have world-renowned scientists pioneering cell and gene therapies and developing personalised solutions for diagnosis and therapy. The teaching on this programme is a good balance of established scientists and early career scientists with a more hands-on approach, providing rich interactions in the classroom and during research projects. We continuously update the programme to include the latest advances, including clinical applications and commercial applications. We have also set different types of exams for different modules, as this will challlege the students develop diverse and transferable skills enhancing their anlytical and communication skills.

How does your programme prepare students for the challenges in the field of Cell, Gene and Novel Therapies?

This is a very rapidly evolving field of research and innovation leading to translation. Our programme provides an in-depth insight into the cutting-edge field of biological therapies. It covers all aspects of cell and gene therapy, including applied genomics, the molecular basis of disease, stem cell biology and tissue repair, current and developing technologies, as well as potential ethical issues that may arise, clinical applications, and commercialisation of biological therapies. This is underpinned by training in research methodology and statistics. Hence by providing a multifaceted overview of the field our programme will allow students to make well informed decisions on the direction of travel they want to take, be it in academia, industry or public service.

What career routes could students on your programme consider after graduating?

We have seen many interesting routes pursued by our varied student cohort. Many of our students decide to do a PhD, either after finishing the MSc or after spending one year working as research assistants to gain additional laboratory experience. Others choose to get involved in developing new therapies or intellectual property rights in the pharmaceutical industry or other business ventures, or conducting, monitoring and analysing clinical trials as part of a team of clinicians, scientists and allied health professionals. Students already established within industry settings often use the knowledge acquired during the programme to develop new commercial ventures, and clinicians to play a bigger role in supporting development, or developing themselves, new therapies for their patients

What would you say to someone considering studying Cell, Gene, and Novel Therapies at UCL?

If you are interested in these novel biological therapies, want to expand your knowledge of the field, want to be exposed to teams pushing the field ahead, and are prepared to work hard, this is the MSc for you. It will also allow you to build and expand your network both at the professional and personal level, and enjoy what UCL and London can offer.

What’s the best advice you would give your younger self?

There are no stupid questions when you're curious and interest-driven. If you're unsure about something and have experts around, don't be shy – ask!